When Judalon Smyth entered the media circus surrounding the Menendez murders in 1990, she sounded more like a soap-opera character than a credible witness. The woman, who owned both a tape-recording business and crystal-healing venture, had been having an affair with L. Jerome Oziel, the Beverly Hills psychologist who treated the Menendez brothers. Once Oziel dumped Smyth, the spurned mistress went to authorities to alert them that Oziel was sitting on a murder confession from the Menendez brothers.

“If [Oziel] was loyal and faithful to his wife, the Menendez brothers might not be in jail,” reasoned actress Heather Graham, who plays Smyth on NBC’s Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders.

Like Smyth did for the Menendez trial, Graham brings a welcome wackiness to the grim trial proceedings—a darkly comic arc in a grotesque tragedy. And on this week’s episode of In the Limelight, Vanity Fair’s pop-culture podcast, Graham sat down with hosts Josh Duboff and Julie Miller to talk about her bonkers scenes and finding truth in a character who, on the surface and, seems a little unhinged.

“As an actor playing a part, it’s your job to be on your character’s side, so you have to see it all from that perspective. I think, from Judalon’s perspective, she was having an affair with this guy who said he wasn’t married when they first met, but he was. They eventually broke up but he convinced her that [the Menendez brothers] were going to have her killed. She thought her only option to be saved was to go to the police and tell them about the tapes so that she would not be killed basically. ”

“I wasn’t allowed to reach out to her,” Graham said of her character preparation. “I did a lot of research. She did two different Diane Sawyer interviews. . .At a certain point she turns against the therapist. It’s not part of [Law & Order True Crime] but she did this exposé Diane Sawyer piece where she exposed him for abusing her and this babysitter he had that was working for the family. You know how she was living in the house in the maid’s room? She’s not the first woman that he did that to. He had another woman who was a babysitter for the kids. She was living in the maid’s room. . .Then there was another woman who was doing errands for the family. And he was having an affair with her in the past. His backstory is almost as crazy as the Menendez brothers’.”

In addition to talking about her foray into the world of true-crime, Graham also discussed Oziel’s mind-control tactics; the anxiety of asking Edie Falco for a selfie; and how she will get revenge on Hollywood sexual harassers onscreen. Ahead, some highlights from the conversation:

In addition to reading Smyth and Oziel’s poetry to one another, Graham was able to get insight into Oziel’s mind-control tactics. “Because she had a tape-recording business, she tape recorded some of their conversations. She said he controlled her with words like ‘thorns.’ So you’re reading the script and wondering, ‘Did the writers make this up?’ But you look at the transcripts of their conversations and he keeps saying, ‘Thorns.’ She’ll ask him a question and try to get an answer, and he’ll say, ‘Thorns.’ Like, ‘Well I don’t understand why I’m not safe. Can you explain?’ And he’ll say, ‘Thorns. Thorns.’

She asked co-star Falco, who co-stars as Leslie Abramson, for a selfie. “I was like, ‘Edie, can I take a selfie with you?’ And she is like, ‘Sure, honey.’ But I felt like a huge dork. I was thinking, I hope she doesn’t say, ‘No’ because I will be so crushed.’ Then I wanted to take more. . .But I thought, ‘No, I can’t keep asking Edie Falco to take 10 selfies with me.’”

On writing, directing, and starring in the movie Half Magic, which opens in theaters February, after fruitlessly pitching female-fronted films for years. “The movie was kind of about my frustration that none of these projects about women were getting made. So it’s about a woman who is trying to make women’s stories in the business and no one will greenlight them. And she has a sexual harasser boss, which we can relate to. But he is very good looking, so unlike Harvey Weinstein. . . I just wanted to make a movie that was empowering to women. . . It’s basically about sexism in Hollywood, sexual harassment, and being a woman. . . They do get revenge in the end.”

On directing her first sex scenes, between Angela Kinsey and Jason Lewis. “They have have two amazing sex scenes—one is a comedy sex scene and the other is a sexy sex scene. . .Angela had never done nudity before. It is funny to be a female director and asking your female to do that. But the movie is about a woman liking her body. When you are a woman in your 40s, you wonder, ‘Am I still hot?’ And I want to encourage women to say, ‘Yeah, I’m still really hot.’’ So she stripped down, got naked, and is gorgeous. . .Angela has never done nudity. I think this is the sexiest part she has ever played but she has got a hot body. But she was brave.”

In addition to the conversation with Graham, Josh shares one more adventure from his Blake Lively chronicles, as well as an encounter he had with Kate Hudson last week. Julie also discusses the Oscar winner she bumped into en route to interview stars from Netflix’s The Crown.

So straighten your brunette wig; tell your tape-recording/crystal-healing assistant to hold your calls for the next hour; and listen to this week’s episode of In the Limelight. Afterward, please share your thoughts, questions, and feedback with In the Limelight on Twitter and Instagram. And subscribe to In The Limelight at Apple Podcasts.

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